“And it’s not just women, you know, Archie is really quite progressive. He can—”
“My Archibald is nothing like you,” she finally erupted in a deep, low growl. “He was raised with respect for manners and decorum, and we hardly envisioned any son of ours spending time with a show girl.”
“Just hold your horses, Mother,” Archie said. “Olive here was also raised in a good family. Her father is—”
“I don’t care who her father is,” she spat.
“Well, then you should care who she is, because as you very well know we are engaged to be married. Olive is an exceptionally talented performer in the Ziegfeld shows, Mother,” Archie said firmly.
“One of the most sought-after shows in New York City,” I chimed in. “You should come for a visit sometime and see for yourself.” I tried to lighten the mood a little, but Archie wasn’t done.
“More than that, she’s a brilliant opera singer and has been approached by the Metropolitan Opera House.” Mrs. Carmichael raised an eyebrow and so did I—that was a white lie. I’d told him what Alberto had suggested, but I certainly hadn’t acted on it. I wasn’t about to correct him, though. “And Olive’s right, women in New York these days have a lot more freedoms, Mother, you’re just not used to that here. But you need to catch up and fast.”
“Well…” She blinked a few times, retracting her chin into her neck more than I thought possible. I think she didn’t expect to be scolded by her son. “If you’re a singer,” she directed to me, “thendrinking is going to do nothing to help your vocal cords.” She nodded toward my bourbon.
“Excuse me for disagreeing, Mrs. Carmichael,” I said as demurely as possible, since I didn’t want to embarrass the woman any further, “but on the contrary, I actually find that it relaxes me and allows me to expand my diaphragm more than usual.”
The other two couples at our table looked wretched, and I felt for them. They’d come for a lovely wedding and were being held captive at this table by a family feud.
“Do you know what?” I said, leaning over and touching the shoulder of the gentleman next to me. “I didn’t even get your names. We were so busy talking politics over here. I’m Olive.”
I drank down the bourbon, and when the dinner plates were taken away, and Archie was chatting with some colleagues at a neighboring table about business, I set out to find a refresher. When I approached the bar, however, I saw Louise, and she saw me. She quickly turned her back.
“Hi there, Louise,” I said. “Just looking for a cocktail, not a catfight.” She turned back to me. “Look, I know these things can get messy, bumping into a former flame.”
“Messy?” she hissed. “Is that what you want to call it? Archibald called off his engagement to me, which had been well-known and celebrated news in these parts. Our families go back years. And for what? A gold-digging actress he just met.”
“Whoa there, soldier,” I said, shocked by her insulting accusations. “I’ll have you know that I make my own money, thank you very much, and I didn’t know that Archie had a penny to his namewhen I first met him. You can rest assured that his money is not what I’m after.”
She shook her head.
“As for you and your engagement, I don’t know what to tell you about that, Louise. Maybe a friend to this family is just the last thing he wants or needs.”
I stood there alone for a few moments while she and her girls walked away.
“Oh, don’t worry about her, dear.” A middle-aged woman sidled up next to me at the bar. “She can be a real pill, everyone around here knows that.”
“Thanks…”
“Peggy,” she said. “I’m a friend of the family.”
“Olive,” I said.
“Oh, we know who you are, darlin’.” She laughed. “You’ve been the talk of the town. His mother can be tricky, too, but you’ll get the hang of things, and when you bring a baby or two into this family all will be forgiven. Everyone’s sort of waiting on pins and needles for it, especially after”—she lowered her voice to a whisper—“everything that happened.”
I must have looked dumbfounded.
“Oh dear,” she said. “You do know about Archie’s first wife, don’t you? Have I gone and said something I shouldn’t have?”
“What? Yes, Archie told me, such a terrible tragedy. Just unimaginable to lose them both like that. But he’s not really the family type anymore.”
“Yes, well, he’s let a bit too much time pass between then andnow if you ask me, but I’m sure it’s hard to fall in love again after something like that, and there was so much pressure for him to find someone and carry on the family name. And, well…” She looked in the direction of Louise. “That’s what that was, pressure from his mother, but he just needed to find the right one, and now it looks like he has.” She squeezed my arm. “You just don’t waste any time with all that,” she said, reaching over and patting my stomach, “and you’ll be just fine.”
I danced the heck out of that reception, and I drank all the bourbon they would serve me. At some point, Archie took me back to his family home and settled me in my room.
“I hope you’ll give my mother a chance, Olive,” he said as he put me to bed. “I’m sorry about the way she spoke to you, but sometimes she doesn’t realize the effect she can have on others.”
After my chat with that Peggy woman, Archie’s mother seemed like the least of my problems. But I wanted to tell him that his mother should appreciate me, someone who’s pulled herself up and worked hard to get there. She of all people should appreciate that, after seeing Archie create his own fortune and then provide for her, buy her an enormous house and pay for her luxurious lifestyle. Maybe now that she was firmly situated in high society, she didn’t want to let anyone in who might rock the boat. But even in my drunken state I knew better than to bring that up. Mothers were generally sacred territory.
